Say "No" to Pollution Emissions, China's Motor Vehicle Emissions Recalls New Regulations "Bright Sword"

(Economic Observation) Say “No” to Pollution Emissions, China’s Motor Vehicle Emissions Recall New Regulations “Bright Sword

　　China News Service, Beijing, May 23 (Liu Liang) Following the recall of vehicles with potential safety hazards, motor vehicles with substandard exhaust emissions in the future will also be recalled.

　　The State Administration for Market Regulation and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment recently issued the "Regulations on the Management of Motor Vehicle Emissions Recalls."

The new regulations have made the above requirements and will be implemented on July 1 this year.

In an interview with a reporter from China News Agency, experts pointed out that this move is an important means for China to continue to say "no" to pollution emissions, and it has strong practical significance for China's economic and social development.

　　The automobile industry is an important pillar industry of China's national economy.

Data show that China's auto sales in 2020 will continue to rank first in the world.

The profit of the automobile manufacturing industry increased by 4.0%.

In 2020, the number of motor vehicles in the country will reach 372 million, of which 281 million are cars; the number of cars in 70 cities across the country will exceed 1 million.

　　However, when the automobile industry promotes economic and social development, it also brings pollution problems that cannot be ignored.

According to statistics, in 2019, the total emissions of four pollutants from motor vehicles, including carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM), totaled 16.038 million tons.

Automobiles are the main contributor to the air pollution emissions of motor vehicles, and their emissions of CO, HC, NOx and PM exceed 90%.

　　In order to reduce emissions and pollution, China has taken many official actions. For example, it has reviewed and passed the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law, which has been proposed many years ago, "The state establishes an environmental protection recall system for motor vehicles and non-road mobile machinery. Manufacturers and importers If it is learned that the air pollutants emitted by motor vehicles or non-road mobile machinery exceed the standards, which are defects in design or production, or do not meet the specified environmental protection durability requirements, they shall be recalled."

　　Although the relevant "superior law" has existed for a long time, the "Regulations on the Recall of Defective Automobile Products" issued by China a few years ago also focused on the safety of automobile products.

The new regulation is to extend the product from a safety recall to an emission recall.

　　According to Lin Boqiang, Dean of the China Energy Policy Research Institute of Xiamen University, the release of this new regulation not only points to the current car pollution problem, but more importantly reflects that China is increasingly on the right track in pollution control, related management and regulations. It is also becoming more standardized.

At the same time, it also highlights the importance of environmental governance in China's transition to high-quality economic development.

　　In fact, China's emission recalls are not uncommon.

According to statistics, since 2016, China has implemented 6 emission recalls, involving 5,164 vehicles.

But compared with the long-implemented safety recall, the new emission recall regulations issued this time have their particularities.

　　Take the administrative department as an example. In the past, the State Administration of Market Supervision was responsible for the safety recall of automobile products, but this recall of motor vehicle emissions was jointly managed by the State Administration of Market Supervision and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

In addition, the scope of application, recall conditions, and emission information collection methods involved in the two are different.

　　According to this regulation, if a motor vehicle has an emission hazard, its producer should implement a recall.

Emission hazards specifically include the following three situations: First, due to design and production defects, the emission of air pollutants from motor vehicles exceeds the standard.

Second, due to non-compliance with the specified environmental protection durability requirements, the emission of air pollutants from motor vehicles exceeds the standard.

Third, due to design and production reasons, motor vehicles have other non-compliance with emission standards or unreasonable emissions.

　　Lin Boqiang said that China's new regulations to increase vehicle emission pollution control are not only using practical actions to align with advanced environmental governance levels, but in the long run, this will also help promote the automotive industry to pay more attention to emission technology research and development and related standards. Requirements, forcing companies to take the initiative to upgrade technology.

　　It is reported that the environmental protection recall of motor vehicles is an internationally accepted practice.

In the 1970s, the United States first established and began to implement environmental protection recalls. Subsequently, the European Union, Japan, South Korea and other countries and regions have successively launched them, which played an important role in reducing the emission level of motor vehicles and improving the effect of environmental protection.

　　The introduction of new regulations may be good news for the development of clean vehicles such as new energy vehicles.

Tang Yao, an associate professor at the Department of Applied Economics, Guanghua School of Management, Peking University, said that the new regulations will guide consumers to choose cars with lower emissions when buying cars, and they also impose strict restrictions on manufacturers, which is conducive to faster reductions. China’s carbon emissions and emissions of other gas pollutants.

　　Tang Yao believes that in the past few years, China's new energy vehicles have developed into an important industry. In the context of the "carbon peak" and "carbon neutral" goals, new energy vehicles are an irreversible trend.

"If China wants to achieve its goals as scheduled, it needs to greatly reduce the consumption of fossil energy. Therefore, the widespread popularization of new energy vehicles is a necessary step." (End)